


Just Once

by thisisamadhouse



Series: In every universe you and I are soulmates [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Shameless Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 12:18:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13974981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisamadhouse/pseuds/thisisamadhouse
Summary: Regina meets Robin while she studies In France. She has to go back home for her father’s funeral, and decides to spend her last night in Paris with Robin. Years later, can they have another chance?





	1. Just Once

**Author's Note:**

> This was a response to a prompt sent to me on Tumblr asking for OQ + "Just once", my mind just went from there.

Regina stirs the few remaining ice cubes at the bottom of her glass before downing the rest of her Jameson whiskey and coke in one go. Whiskey has been an acquired taste for her, but tonight she needs the liquid courage, although the coke will help her keep her head just clear enough.

She wants to remember every single moment of this last night in the City of Lights before going back stateside. She is quite certain the moment she will land in Boston, her mother will sink her sharp claws and not let her get away again.

The first time was a lucky escape, only made possible by Mr Gold’s, her godfather, intervention. There would be no second chances, but she can’t not go back. Her father is dead and his funeral is in less than two days.

Her dear, sweet daddy who protected her for almost four years -to make up for a lifetime of inaction-, who sent her money, checked up on her secretly, but who, in one last moment of weakness, one last attempt at reuniting his family, gave her phone number to her mother so he could see his daughter again before the terminal stage of his kidney failure carried him off.

Her mother didn’t call her until he was dead however, and Regina shudders as she imagines what her father must have thought in his last moments. The shock of hearing both her mother’s voice for the first time in years, and the news she had to tell almost caused Regina to faint, only her anger at being told too late kept her afloat.

So here she is, all packed up and trying to enjoy one last night of freedom. She turns on her bar-stool and stares right at _him_. Robin, the leader of the band performing tonight at Connolly’s Corner, the Irish Pub in Paris’ fifth _arrondissement_ she stumbled in two years ago with her roommate Mallory, another American expat.

He and his band had been playing that night too, and the moment they had finished their little concert, Mallory had almost pounced on the drummer, Will, and turned on the charm. Regina and Robin had both shaken their heads at their friends’ antics before Regina had started to blush under the intensity of Robin’s gaze. His delightfully accented voice made her shiver, and she had been dangerously close to feeling things she had been certain had died with Daniel.

Daniel, the stable boy, her first love, the forbidden passion her mother had never understood or condoned. The moment Cora had discovered them, Regina’s whole life had spun on its axis. Nothing had ever been the same after that and Regina had lost her last few illusions about her mother’s true nature.

Daniel and her had planned to run away and elope, to build a life far away from Cora’s toxic presence, but fate had decided differently. The night Daniel had driven to her family’s mansion to pick her up, a drunk driver had crashed into his car, killing him instantly.

Cora had forbidden Regina from attending the funeral, and thus she was never able to say goodbye, to get closure, to let go.

That’s why she had such trouble handling Robin’s own bout of flirt. For two years, they have been dancing around and he has been patient, even more so when she finally told him her story, one night, after one too many drinks.

Tonight, it ends though, tonight she is going to let herself be loved like Robin has sworn time and time again he would show her if only she would let him.

Her demons haven’t scared him away, and it’s selfish that she is choosing tonight of all night to start something she will never be able to follow through, but if she is correct about her mother’s ambitions, she won’t have many happy memories to cling onto in the next few years.

Robin’s presence in her life has felt like an oasis and a mirage at the same time. She is calmer when he is near, more open, she smiles more. He keeps the darkness at bay, and she wants to bring that sensation with her. More often than not she wonders if it’s even real at all.

He is looking at her, he is singing and playing for her, and it brings tears to her eyes because she hasn’t told him about her imminent departure and she doesn’t plan to. He would try to convince her that she doesn’t have to let her mother back into her life, he may even want to come with her to support her but she can’t let him do that. One look at him and her mother would know, and she would do her worst to destroy him just like she destroyed Daniel.

The band’s last song of the night is ending, and she stands up. Robin meets her in the middle of the pub the moment the applause die down. He barely gets the chance to say “Hello” before she seizes the labels of his jacket and crashes their lips together, trying to pour every ounce of everything she feels for him into this kiss.

She hears the cheers of his band mates and a few other regular patrons, and she breaks the kiss with a chuckle, cracking a watery smile.

Something in her expression must convey what she wants because after a moment of intense observation, Robin nods and asks her in a murmur if she wants to get away. Her smile turns more coy and she acquiesces. He leads her out, his arm around her shoulders, bringing her as close to him as he can.

It’s not a long walk to his room on the campus of his school of architecture, and she enjoys the sights one last time.

Later that night, after he has worshipped every inch of her skin and brought sensations of pleasure and fulfilment like she has never known before, she whispers “Just once, just this once”, and he looks up at her with this adorable confused expression of his. She is not sure if he understood what she just said, but when morning comes and she is gone, he will.

She refuses to think about his reaction. She can’t stand to imagine the broken expression on his face when he crosses path with Mal again, and realises she is not coming back. It would break her if she thought he hates her for what she did.

She is acting selfishly, but for years to come, the memory of this night will be the only thing that will stop her from ending it all. He makes her feel as if she is worth more than a mere puppet her mother is willing to sold to the highest bidder. He may hate her for leaving without saying goodbye but she will always love him for giving her that night and the two years that came before.


	2. Just one more time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Betaed by my Darling [Lolymoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lolymoon/pseuds/Lolymoon) . The song the band performs is inspired by “You to me are everything” by Sean Maguire. Rated M for this chapter

Nobody barges into the office of Regina Mills, formerly Blanchard, CEO of Blanchard Industries, without facing some serious consequences, and probably a very painful death. Nobody, ever, except for Mallory Cent, who has most certainly been raised by wolves or dragons, and never learned the most basic etiquette.

“We’re going out tonight,” the tall blonde announces. The intrusion and the loud clatter of the door hitting the wall is so unexpected that Regina actually jumps, her friend’s words not quite registering.

“What?” Regina asks, gaping a little at the woman strutting towards her.

“We are going out tonight,” Mal repeats, enunciating every word slowly and clearly. 

“You know you can’t just burst in here and make me go out. What about Henry? I’m guessing wherever you’re taking us isn’t children friendly?” Regina replies, rolling her eyes.

“Already took care of it. I arranged everything with little Miss Tink as she was trying to stop me from coming in here. You’ve got a babysitter for my favourite little brat, and I know you have no fancy party to attend, so you’re all mine.” The blonde whispers the last part, leaning over the massive desk, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Regina sighs, knowing there is no stopping her headstrong friend now that she doesn’t have any excuses left. “Can I at least know where we’re going, or is this another one of your secret operations to get me laid?”

Mal’s sudden, strange smirk makes Regina uneasy.

“We’re going to a pub, for good old times’ sake. I heard about a band performing there. They’re pretty great it seems. Maybe you know about them?” She says, laying a poster in front of Regina.

The moment Regina sees the name of the band and the faces on the picture, she feels the colours draining from her face and she is glad she is already sitting down. 

She knew _he_ was in town, but she hadn’t expected that Mal would. She has kept tabs on Robin for years now. She knows he graduated from his architecture school but he never actually worked in that field, choosing to focus on his band instead, and managed in just a few short years to go from playing in local clubs to national fame in his homeland, and then became an international success after the release of their second album. They still like to perform in pubs and small clubs where they can be closer to their audience though, despite their ability to fill the biggest concert halls.

She has a box under her bed filled with CDs, articles, posters and tickets to concerts she never could bring herself to go to. This box that she kept at the very back of her closet when her husband was alive, was one of the only thing she took when she moved out of the Blanchard brownstone to her own penthouse in a more modern building. She managed to get control of everything else, not that her stepdaughter fought her too much on it, the least she could do was to leave to Mary Margaret the house she grew up in. 

That box, and all the papers related to the adoption process they had started a few months before Leopold’s death were and still are the only possessions she cares about. Her past and the future she wanted to build for herself, all able to fit in her arms as she took one last look at the place where for four years she was nothing more than a trophy wife, dusted and showed off when need be, forgotten and neglected the rest of the time. Cora had treated her orchids better than Leopold had his own second wife, she had never let any of them wither away.

There was one thing her now dead husband had contributed to that she couldn’t resent him for: he had wanted an heir for his company, a boy he could mould into a businessman who would take over after him, since it was obvious that his daughter had no interest for Leopold’s life work. He hadn’t realised there was already someone ready to do the job, someone who had spent years sitting at tables surrounded by all kinds of sharks, ignored and invisible, and had absorbed everything they had to say. 

Leopold had wanted a son, but Regina could never bring herself to carry his child. So they had turned towards adoption. However, years of alcohol abuse caught up with him just before they got the call telling them a baby boy needed a family.

A small intercession from Regina’s godfather, Mr Gold, insured that the process would not stop with her husband’s death, and Regina was able to welcome in her arms and her heart a three weeks old baby that she named Henry as an homage to her father. He has been her whole world ever since, but she never forgot the young man who had managed to glue back together the pieces of her broken heart all those years ago, when she had tried to build herself a life in Paris.

She isn’t sure if it’s a good idea to see him again though. While she keeps only fond and happy memories of their time together in France, he probably doesn’t feel the same, not after the way she left him, without a word or an explanation. Why would he want to have anything to do with her after that? He moved on, got married, had a child, got divorced. All of this in less than two years. He has other priorities now, there is no place in his life for her.

“Regina?” Mal calls out softly, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Maybe it’s time for you to stop questioning everything to death and just live your life.”

“That’s what I did the first time and look where we are now! This isn’t a good idea, Mal. I left him behind and I never said anything, I never called him or…” Regina starts, her voice growing louder as she tries to get her friend to understand.

“I did,” Mal interrupts her and Regina stares at her questioningly, eyebrows raising in surprise. “After you left, he came to me and asked me where you were and what had happened to you. I told him about your father's death, and that your mother was a controlling bitch who wouldn’t let you get away again, that she had big plans for you which didn’t include a young wannabe architect with no fortune. He was devastated, even more so when we saw an article a few months later about your wedding to that old creep. So he knows, and the fact that he tried to move on and it didn’t work out, just like you did, tells me that maybe there is still a chance there. So tonight we’re going to that pub, we will have a good time and get you buzzed enough so that when you go backstage after their concert you won’t have cold feet. Do we have a deal?”

Regina can only nod dumbly after this rant.

“Very well then, I’ll pick you up at 9.” Mallory indicates, before turning around and heading towards the entrance. “Oh and that little red number you call a dress, but I call an invitation to sin would probably be a good bet. Just saying,” she adds, smirking as she closes the door.

* * *

Needless to say, Regina doesn’t get much work done. She decides to leave early, treats her secretary to lunch to thank her for agreeing to babysit and goes to pick up Henry from pre-school. 

Hours later, she is standing in front of her full length mirror, in the red dress Mal mentioned, trying to decide if she will really wear it or not.

“You look fantastic, Boss,” Tina Bell, Tink as she likes to be called, tells her from her observation point, leaning against the door frame.

“You’re in my home to babysit my son, dear. I think that means you can call me Regina,” she smiles at the younger woman in the mirror.

“That will take some getting used to, but I think I’ll manage,” Tink replies coyly. “You’ll break hearts tonight in that dress.”

“I hope not,” Regina whispers, smoothing out the red material nervously. “Alright let’s do this,” she adds, heading to her vanity to put on some make up.

“Mama, the Lion King is over, can I watch the second one pleeease?” Her four-years-old almost begs as he enters her room, just when Regina is applying the finishing touches, clutching the plush toy version of the film’s namesake against his chest. He looks up at her and gasps. “You are so pretty, Mama,” Henry exclaims, all toothy grin and tinkling eyes.

Regina and Tink grin at the boy. “Thank you, Henry,” his mother replies, drawing him to her and onto her lap, not caring about potential wrinkles, never when she is holding her son. “And no I’m afraid you can’t watch another movie, it’s getting close to your bedtime, honey. But Miss Tink will read you a story, and we will watch the film together tomorrow if you promise to be good to her, alright?” She bargains playfully, chucking him under the chin lightly.

He seems to ponder for a moment before nodding eagerly and hugging her tightly. Regina closes her eyes, resting her cheek on his soft brown hair, relishing in the warmth and love her son gives her so freely.

The ringing of the doorbell interrupts the moment. “I’ll get it,” Tink announces, and her voice sounds oddly choked.

Regina hoists Henry on her hip and heads towards the entrance hall. The boy shrieks when he sees who has been let into the apartment.

“Aunty Mal!” He cries, running towards her before his mother has even put him on the ground. He crashes in Mallory’s legs, who pretends to be annoyed but still scoops him up, grunting as she does so.

“What is your mother feeding you? You’re getting bigger and taller each time I see you. I won’t be able to lift you up soon,” she says, making a funny face that causes Henry to chuckle.

“Silly Mal! I’m still little,” he retorts, looping his little arms around her neck.

“And that better not change any time soon,” the blonde instructs in a mock serious tone. “Is it alright if I whisk your mother away for the night, little man?” She asks then, bringing their foreheads together.

“You bring her back?” Henry inquires solemnly.

“Always.” Mal answers, and all the playfulness is gone.

Regina watches them, a watery smile on her lips, a hand resting over her stomach. Her son and his godmother, the two most important persons in her life. There is not a day that goes by where she doesn’t thank whatever lucky star put Mallory on her path and let them meet again after she’d gone back to the U.S and her friend had stayed in France.

“Well what a sombre mood you’re both in suddenly,” she says, drawing Mal’s attention towards her. 

The other woman looks her up and down, and gives her an appreciative smirk.“My, my, don’t you look ravishing! I knew that dress would be perfect for the occasion." 

"Don’t get your hopes up just yet, this won’t be enough,” Regina warns.

“Hmm, believe me, my hopes won’t be the only thing that will be up tonight,” Mallory drawls, grinning at Regina’s gasp of outrage.

“Mal!” She scolds, looking pointedly between her friend and an oblivious Henry, who is busy playing with Mallory’s necklace.

Mal rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry, your boy is smart, but there is no way he is going to understand that one for a few more years. Isn’t that right, little man?” She asks Henry for confirmation, and a moment passes before he realises he is being talked to and looks from his godmother to his mother.

“See, that’s what I thought,” Mal laughs at the little confused face. “Anyway, we better get a move on before the concert starts without us,” she adds, kissing Henry on the cheek leaving a bright red lipstick mark behind.

Regina takes her son back in her arms for one last tight embrace and an Eskimo kiss that leaves the boy giggling. “I love you, Mama,” he whispers, and Regina bites the inside of her cheek hard to stop the tears from ruining her make up.

“I love you too sweetheart. Sweet dreams, my little prince,” she murmurs back and then transfers him in Tink’s waiting arms.

* * *

The cab drive to the pub is mostly silent, the growing tension in Regina’s shoulders lets Mallory know that small talk won’t be welcome, so she just takes one of Regina’s hands in hers, ignoring the shaky breath her friend lets out when she does, and just looks out the window as they navigate through New York City’s traffic.

Regina is in a bit of a daze when they finally enter the establishment. The sudden onslaught of music and loud voices from the crowd already gathered there does nothing for her frayed nerves.

Mallory still holds her hand tightly, and she steers them to the bar, ordering a Cosmopolitan for herself and a whiskey and coke for Regina, forcibly putting it in the brunette’s hands as soon as it is ready.

“Drink up, it’s liquid courage,” the blonde commands, and Regina remembers drinking the same thing all those years ago, for the very same purpose, before she spent her last night in Paris with Robin. She covers a shiver by downing most of the drink in one healthy gulp, earning an impressed look from Mallory in the process.

They finish their first drinks and order their second right before the band is announced.

“They chose their band name one drunken night, which probably explain a few things, and never expected it to work. However, a few, and then more than a few people decided to prove them wrong. Please welcome, fresh from across the Pond, Robin Hood and his Merry Men!” The pub’s owner speaks in the microphone over the loud cheers and applause of the patrons.

Regina’s breath stops as they walk onto the small scene, laughing and clapping and bowing. Eight years since she last saw him and it feels like no time has passed. As if they are still in Connolly’s Corner, in Paris, when she would sat at the bar and watch him play. She doesn’t realise she is moving until the crowd packed just before the scene prevents her from approaching more. 

Robin speaks a few words of thanks to the pub’s owner and to everyone who came, and she can’t take her eyes away. The music starts and he sings and every single emotion and feeling his voice ever stirred inside her come back to the surface, and she feels like she is suffocating.

The lyrics, which talk about a man waiting for his love, ready to do anything for her, to give her all the time in the world to come back to him, are enough to do her in and she needs air. She struggles against the sea of people, deaf to her surroundings, unaware of the wide blue eyes following her progress and the falter in the lead singer’s voice.

She stumbles on the patio, ignoring the curious looks a few persons who are smoking out there give her. She leans against a wall and takes big gulps of air, eyes and fists closed tightly, nails digging in her skin as she tries to get control over the raging storm of emotions that threatens to engulf her whole.

She starts when she feels a hand on her shoulder and a head pressing against hers. 

“We can leave if it’s too much for you,” Mal’s warm and calm voice speaks softly in her ear. 

Regina shakes her head. “No, no, I just… I just need a minute.”

“Okay,” The blonde replies simply.

Regina opens her eyes and turns her head to look at her friend. “You can go back inside if you want, I’ll be fine.”

Mallory snorts. “Yeah, clearly you are! I dragged you here, I’m not going to leave you alone out there. You said you need a moment so we’ll stay here until the moment has passed and you’re ready,” she counters, shrugging.

It’s not often that Regina Mills is speechless, but when she is, Mallory is usually responsible.

* * *

The moment lasts during the whole concert, and they go back inside just as the final encore applause die down. Mal leads Regina towards the stage and waves the pub’s owner over. The man approaches them, smiling widely at the blonde woman.

“Mallory! It’s been too long! Is this the groupie you talked to me about?” He asks, observing Regina curiously.

Mal rolls her eyes. “Jeff, I told you she isn’t a groupie, she knows the lead.”

“Well if I had gotten a dollar each time I heard that…” Jeff says. “Anyway, Mal vouches for you so I trust that you’re not one of those crazy stalker?”

Regina’s eyebrows raise, while Mal snorts. “I can assure you that I’m most certainly not a stalker.”

“Yeah, but that’s exactly what a crazy stalker would say, isn’t it?” Jeff replies.

“You sound like you have a lot of experience with those kind of people?” Regina asks.

The man grins. “I like her, Mal, but then you’ve always had very good tastes in… friends.” The way he says “friends” sounds like a question, but neither Mallory nor Regina seem inclined to clarify it for him.

“Anyway, if there is any problem, Leroy here will deal with it,” he adds, smirking and nodding his head towards a grumpy looking man who guards the curtains leading to the backstage area. “Leroy, let the lady in, and be nice,” he instructs, as he gives his arm for Mallory to take. “You did promise me a drink.”

Mallory nods, winks at Regina, whispering as she passes her. “Just take a deep breath and it will be alright.”

The brunette does just that, but it doesn’t help much. She heads towards Leroy who holds the curtain open for her and asks him where she can find Robin.

“His dressing room is the last one on the right,” he tells her, and she thanks him, forcing a smile but it feels more like a grimace.

Her heart is hammering in her chest, blood pumping in her ears. Her palms are clammy, she wipes them nervously on her dress, and then she is facing the door. It’s not completely closed, she can hear people talking inside. With each second that passes, the remnants of her courage leave her, she is standing there, hesitating, when the door opens and Will Scarlett, the band’s drummer since the very beginning, appears. He looks at her, his mouth hanging open.

“Huh, Robin, mate?” Is all he seems able to formulate, but it’s enough to attract the man in question’s attention.

The silence that falls when Robin lays eyes on her is deafening. Regina can’t read his expression, and panic grips her.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come,” she says, turning around to leave.

“Regina?” Awe, uncertainty, hope, all wrapped in one single whispered word. “That’s really you?”

She swivels back towards him, a shaky smile pulling at her lips.

Will looks between them, clears his throat nervously, scratches his chin. “Yeah, right, I’ll just…” He shrugs, not knowing how to finish his sentence, and walks away.

Regina takes a deep breath and observes Robin. He is bare-chested, holding a shirt in his hands, and she has trouble focusing on anything other than the last and only time she saw him like this. His strong arms surrounding her, her head pillowed on his broad chest… _you have to stop that Regina_ , she thinks, looking up and trying to clear her head. She catches his eyes, and notices he is looking at her dazedly.

“Where are my manners? Come in!” He stammers, stepping aside.

Regina enters the room slowly, unsure, her head bowed.

“I thought I saw you in the pub earlier, but I was convinced it was just my imagination playing tricks. Wouldn’t be the first time,” he says, his intense gaze not straying from her face, as if he is afraid she will disappear if he so much as blinks. 

The last part throws her off, and it must show because he clarifies. “I often imagined seeing you during concerts, especially on this side of the Pond. I always hoped… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t say that.”

She chuckles darkly. “You are apologizing? When I’m the one who left like a thief in the night and never called?”

Robin shakes his head. “Mallory explained to me what happened, and I won’t lie and say it was easy, but I realise you didn’t have much choice in the matter.”

“How can you be so… so understanding? I just…” Regina sighs and walks further into the room, her gaze falling on the open case of his guitar. There are pictures tapped there, one of the band, one of a little boy and a woman she expects to be his son and ex-wife and one of… them? She gets closer and studies it. 

She remembers that day, they had gone out with Mal and Will, played tourists in Montmartre, it had been a great day, but she hadn’t realised there was a picture of this particular moment, when they were seating on the steps leading to the Sacré-Coeur, having lunch, and he decided to feed her some of his chocolate fondant. She is laughing in the picture, chocolate all around her mouth, and he is looking at her as if he wishes he could pluck the stars down from the sky for her. He has kept it, all those years. This memory of one of the best day of her life has followed him everywhere.

“I thought you would hate me for leaving the way I did,” she breathes, eyes brimming with tears and she feels him, standing right behind her, his presence warm and comforting in a way she feels she doesn’t deserve.

His arms are around her, his chin rests on the top of her head, and she tries to relax against him, tries to recapture this easy intimacy there always was between them. Before, at least. 

“I could never hate you. I tried, believe me, I tried so hard to convince myself you had just used and thrown me away like an old tissue, but that lasted for about five minutes. I never stopped believing you’d come back or contact me. When I heard about your husband’s death, I waited with bated breath, but when nothing changed, I thought maybe it was time to move on. Didn’t work out,” the last words are muffled by the kiss he presses on her hair.

“There was never a moment where I imagined you would be happy to see me. Mallory almost had to drag me here tonight,” Regina replies softly, slowly losing her battle against her tears.

“Regina, you’ve been on my mind since the first time you walked into that little French pub all those years ago, cheering us with a drink in one hand threatening to spill, and you never left.”

“We are different people than we were back then,” she says, turning around in his arms.

“Are we?” He asks, brushing hair away from her face, tucking strands behind her ear. “I may have a few wrinkles and a grey hair here and there, but I have to say that you, Milady, haven’t changed a bit, or for the better anyway. Time has no grip on you.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere. And you know that’s not what I meant.” She tries to sound stern, but how can she when she feels his calloused fingers caressing her cheek tenderly. “A lot has happened, we’re not the same.”

“And yet, you’re here. Mallory may have dragged you to the pub, but I don’t see her anywhere. No one forces you to stay if you don’t want to. You can try and give me all the reasons why this isn’t a good idea, but know that there isn’t a day that went by during all those years where I didn’t think about you, and what I would give to have another chance…” She needs him to stop talking, she can handle a lot of things, she is a mother and a tough business woman after all, but his words are too much for her so she does the only thing that has always worked to shut him up. 

She kisses him, and it takes him only a second to respond. His arms tighten their embrace, the hand that was stroking her cheek slides to the back of her head, tilting it slightly backward. There was never anything sweet about their kisses, for a long while it was all she would  allow so they always poured everything they felt into them. This one is no exception. Things heat up quickly, too quickly perhaps. She finds herself pressed against the wall beside a small couch without really knowing how she got there.

She puts a hand on his still bare chest, just over his heart, and gives a light push and he stops immediately. They breathe hard, foreheads resting against each other.

“Well, that was…” Robin says, stunned.

“Yes, it was.” His inability to finish his sentence amuses her greatly, and the last remaining thread of tension she felt flies away. This is Robin, he will stop if she asks, he won’t ever push her to do anything she doesn’t want to. “What did I ever do to deserve to have you in my life?” She whispers and he frowns.

“Now, now, I think that’s the other way around,” he replies.

“Do you have any idea what kind of mess you would get yourself into if we don’t stop now?” She asks as he peppers kisses along her jaw and neck.

“Between the two of us, the press would have a field day, 'The Devil wearing Prada businesswoman seen with lead band singer, can he warm her frozen heart?'. I know what they say about you, Regina, I don’t care, I know you better than that.“

"We both have sons to protect. You travel all over the world…”

“Regina, stop please. Can we just enjoy this tonight and worry tomorrow?”

“I just don’t want you to regret this,” she looks down, and her voice is so small and full of pain that it gives Robin pause. He cups both her cheeks and waits until she is looking at him again to talk.

“Listen to me, Regina, I have waited to see you again for eight years. Whatever happens tonight, I will never regret it.”

She stays silent for a long while, studying him. Screw it, she thinks at last, she has wasted enough time already. Just live your life, Mal said, well that’s exactly what she intends to do.

Their next kiss is bruising, with an intensity bordering on desperation. She turns them around and walks him backwards until he is seated on the couch with her in his lap.

“That dress should be illegal,” he says, pulling the red material higher up on her thighs.

She smirks. “And you haven’t seen what’s hiding beneath,” she whispers in his ear before nibbling the lobe playfully.

He groans. “You’re going to be the death of me, woman. Bold and audacious as you are.”

She wriggles a little, and they both moan when his hardness is pressed against her core.

“Too many clothes,” Regina pants, trying to catch her breath between each heated kisses.

“I agree,” Robin murmurs, already gathering her dress and pulling it over her head. He is devouring her, looking her up and down, and it’s like she can feel the heat of his gaze on her skin.

“You are so gorgeous,” he says reverently.

She can’t hide her blush and instead busies herself with popping open the button of his jeans and raises on her knees on either side of him to give him more room to take them off.

They are both down to their underwear and Robin’s hands are everywhere, rediscovering each inches of her flawless skin.

He takes off her bra and lowers his mouth to a breast, relishing in her pleasured gasp. He sucks on her nipple, alternating between laving it with his tongue and biting it slightly, pinching the other between two fingers.

She rolls her hips, tries to be as close to him as she can. She moans louder when he slips a hand in her red lacy panties and touches her. She is wet, close to soaking with all the friction and his ministrations.

Her mouth drops open and her nails dig into his biceps when he bites her nipple sharply and slips a finger inside her at the same time, his thumb on her clit.

In retaliation, she sucks at his pulse point until she leaves a mark.

“No more teasing,” she says.

“Yes, Ma'am.” Robin lowers his boxer, his erection standing proudly.

They join their hands together on his cock, him guiding her movements, her remembering what he likes.

He moves her panties to the side and she slowly lowers herself on him. They stay joined, unmoving for a moment, lazily kissing. She puts his hands on her hips, rolls them again and then starts moving up and down.

Moans and groans and skin slapping against skin are the only sounds heard in the room for a while, and if it's the only music Robin hears for the rest of his life, he would be quite content with it.

Regina feels more alive than she has in a very long time. She is aware of every nerve ending, every muscle straining as she leans back with her hands on his knees and changes the angle of his thrusts.

“You feel so good, my love. So good,” Robin gasps.

“I’m close, Robin. I’m going to…” She lets out a loud whimper when he thumbs her clit again.

“Let go for me, Regina. Let go.”

A couple more thrusts, and she cries his name as she comes hard, her core squeezing him and bringing him over the edge. He gathers her in his arms as she slumps against his chest, breathing fast.

“Stay with me tonight,” she says, when their heartbeats slow down. “Come home with me and stay. Let’s see where this leads us.”

The smile he gives her is dazzling. “I would follow you to hell and back, Milady.”  
.  
“I better be maid of honour at your wedding and godmother to all the kids you’ll pop out,” is the first thing Mallory says the next morning when she strolls into Regina’s bedroom and finds them together. Her only answer is a pillow thrown at her face.

A few months later, “Just One More Time,” the band’s new song that talks about second chances at love and finding each other despite long years apart and all kinds of hardships, is an instant hit. When they are asked if it has anything to do with them and their story, they deny it vehemently but the knowing smiles they exchange don’t fool anyone.


End file.
